The Lord's Prayer of Freedom

Pastor Tim concludes the "Can You Hear Me Now?" series, diving into prayer life and growing closer to God. He looks at the last few verses of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 and the importance of forgiveness from God and between ourselves and others.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLM1nZTJQ20]

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  As we close the series on the Lord's Prayer, it ends with the issue of forgiveness being a two way street. Resentment is a poison we drink thinking it will impact the person we are struggling against, when in reality, we are the ones to suffer.  Prayer allows us space to get away from the busyness of life and to work on giving and receiving forgiveness.  When we give up resentment that is a big step, because when we do so, we are giving up our fruitless hopes of a perfect past.  Only God can help us in this all important area. Through Jesus' teachings in Matthew 6:5-15, we are able to experience a sense of freedom.  Freedom from our past. Freedom from our mistakes. Freedom from bitterness and resentment. Freedom to joyfully let God work in mighty ways in our lives.

Want to know more?

Please visit us by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

Lenten Ideas for Families

40 days of lent: Family Faith Practices

Have you ever celebrated lent with your family? Maybe not at all? Well, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Check out some ideas Pastor Becca has for how your family can celebrate Lent together this year.

1. Read Jesus’ Sermon on The Mount as a family. Matthew 5-7 2. Pray for your enemies or someone who has persecuted you. 3. Don’t waste any food today 4. Pay 3 people a sincere compliment 5. Tithe your time: Spend 10% of your time (2.5 hours) serving at church. (This could be weeding the parking lot, cleaning the bathrooms and vacuuming, or asking a pastor for a way to serve) 6. Listen to someone who seems lonely 7. Take 5 minutes of silence before you eat dinner 8. Celebrate! Enjoy a family game night 9. Do someone else’s chore for them without being asked 10. Spend 10 minutes writing out a prayer to God 11. Forgive someone 12. Tithe your money: Give 10% of the money you made that week to the church, helping people in need in the name of Jesus. 13. Thank God for 20 blessings in your life 14. Call a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while 15. Give up social media for a day 16. Tell someone in your family something you love about them 17. Ask someone to pray for you 18. Ask to pray for someone 19. Take communion 20. Buy a couple $5 gift cards to gas stations to give to the families living in their cars at the church 21. Purge your closets, donating unnecessary items to the goodwill 22. Apologize 23. Donate some books or art supplies to your local elementary school 24. Write someone an email, telling them you appreciate them. 25. Turn off your T.V. and go outside 26. Pray for your church 27. Bake cookies for someone 28. Read Psalm 139 as a family before dinner 29. Ask God for help 30. Introduce yourself, or reconnect with one of your neighbors 31. Have someone over for dinner 32. Walk, ride a bike, or take public transportation to work/school 33. Thank someone who is in leadership for their service (Like a pastor, teacher, police, etc) 34. Cook dinner together as a family 35. Pray for the current events in the news 36. Don’t turn on music during your car ride- enjoy conversation or silence 37. Go for a walk or hike as a family 38. Ask God to help you know Him more 39. Spend 10 minutes praying for someone you work with/ go to school with 40. Read the Easter story John 18, 19, 20

About The Author:

Becca McCary Becca is a children's pastor and part of the preaching team at Washington Cathedral. She writes on motherhood, spirituality, and biblical interpretation. She also has her own personal blog with resources for mothers and Sunday School teachers.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Pastor Linda continues the "Can You Hear Me Now?" series, diving into prayer life and growing closer to God. Looking at Matthew 6:11, she looks at God's promise to give us everything we need, even if we don't know exactly what that is in our lives.

I love fresh baked bread.  How about you?  I especially love the smell of it baking in the oven.  My mom was a bread baker and one of my fondest childhood memories was waking up to the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven.

When I was traveling in Israel many years ago our group was touring Cana (where Jesus performed his first recorded miracle of turning water into wine for a wedding reception).  Across the street from the church commemorating this event was a little bakery where they were baking the wonderful flat bread of Israel, in stone ovens.  The smell was out of this world.  As a matter of fact, it was hard for us to remain focused on the tour because we couldn’t wait to get finished so we could go get some of that bread (As I’m writing this I’m getting hungry for some fresh baked bread.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZOjIOfbgCw&w=640&h=480]

Throughout the Bible, bread is essential for sustaining life.  Jesus referred to himself as the “bread of life” in John 6:35 and goes on to say that when we come to him we will never be hungry or thirsty again.  So when Jesus gives us this model prayer and asks us to prayer for “our daily bread”, it means so much more than just praying for a loaf of bread.

Jesus is reminding us here that God wants to provide us with everything we need for a healthy and happy life – physically, spiritually and emotionally.  “And God will generously provide all you need.  Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

“Give Us” is another interesting choice of words for Jesus to use in our instruction.  “Give” is a power-packed little word.  When we are asking God to “give” something to us, we are acknowledging that God is the source of everything.  James 1:17 reminds us “that every good thing we have comes to us from God.”

The fact that God is the source of everything we have, reminds us that we are to care for and use those gifts in a way that pleases Him.  In 2 Corinthians, we are reminded when we share freely and give generously that is what is remembered forever.  What we do with what God gives us is very important to Him.  The next verse in 2 Corinthians “For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat.  In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.”

God will provide us with everything we need.  Jesus reminds us to include those needs in our prayers every day.  With that, we need to remember that as He provides it is also our responsibility to use those resources wisely and to be generous with everything he gives us.

As you use the Lord’s prayer as your model this week:

1) Pause and think about who you are talking to (Our Father who is in heaven hallowed be your name….).

2) Before you get to the needs section, you need to surrender your will, not impose it (Your kingdom come Your will be done….)

3) Now ask yourself, “what do I need today and how will I use what God give me to glorify Him?” (Give us this day our daily bread.)

Want to know more?

Please visit us by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

The Prayer that Works 100% of the Time

Pastor Rey continues the "Can You Hear Me Now?" series, diving into prayer life and growing closer to God. This week he addresses the difference between praying for things as if God is our magical genie verses fully submitting to God's will.  To prayerfully surrender to God.

It’s not what you think.  It’s not a prayer that will make God do your bidding.  Most of my efforts in prayer have been trying to figure out how to pray in such a way so that God would always answer my prayer.  I would never have said it, but basically I wanted an all-powerful genie I could summon for my request.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not just me looking for a magical panacea to my problems in prayer.  Maybe that’s why most of the best selling books on prayer promise us a method or strategy on how to pray in such a way so that we can ‘move’ God.  Maybe there is something in all of us that likes the idea of having God on a leash.  At our command.  At our control.

This kind of thinking isn’t new to us.  In the book of Acts chapter 8, there is a guy named Simon who wants to buy the ability to control God.  The disciples probably wanted the same ability when they asked Jesus “Teach us to pray.”

[youtube=http://youtu.be/mgxztm2DIGI]

Jesus does teach them to pray.  In fact I believe he teaches them the right way to pray.  I believe he teaches them a prayer that works every single time.  After teaching them to ‘pause and think about who you are talking to’ (check out last weeks message if this makes no sense - http://youtu.be/_hUkswuF-KE), Jesus teaches them a prayer that works 100% of the time –

“Your kingdom come.  You will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

It’s the prayer of surrender.  It’s getting to the place where you put God’s will above your own.  It’s moving in God’s direction and not trying to move God in your direction.  It’s not trying to bend God in your direction, but allowing God to bend you in His direction.

This prayer is different.  It’s unusual.  It’s not the typical prayer I pray.  Usually I have a need and I’m begging God to answer my request.  Usually, I don’t say things like “God, before we go any further, before I get to my needs, before I get to my kingdom, I want you to know, I’m more committed to your will then I am my own.  I want your will.  Even if it hurts.  Even if I hate it.  Even if I don’t understand it.”

It was hard to even type those words because it’s so scary. But that is why Jesus told us to pause.  So that during the pause we could see God as our heavenly Father and King, who we can trust.  The prayer of surrender requires trust.  And when I trust God, I can say, with my whole heart “Your will be done.” Because I know His will is best for my life.

You see, this prayer works every time, not because it moves God, but because it moves you.  It moves you in God’s direction.  And that is the purpose of prayer.  To recalibrate our hearts.  To realign our hearts.  To sync our hearts with the heart of the Father.

So let me ask you a few questions:

-   Do you trust God? -   What areas of your life do you struggle to surrender to God? -   Why do you think that is? -   What would your life look like if you truly surrendered to God?

Even you want to hear the whole message, please visit us by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

Learning from Jesus

Pastor Rey starts off on a new series "Can You Hear Me Now?", diving into prayer life and growing closer to God. The first step as we learn from Jesus is to pause, slow down, and get away from the crazy.

Imagine learning to throw a football from Russell Wilson, or how to coach a team from Pete Carroll, or how to manage a company from Paul Allen, or how to talk smack from Richard Sherman.  Minus the last example, I think most of us would relish in the opportunity to learn a skill from one of the greats.

Now imagine learning to pray from Jesus himself.  Imagine if you could somehow figure out this whole prayer thing from the person who was most connected to God.  Well you don’t have to imagine because you can learn to pray vicariously through the disciples who once asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray.”

I have been trying to figure out prayer ever since becoming Christian.  I have tried praying silently, aloud, writing down my prayers, reading other’s prayers, walking through nature and praying, praying while I jog, praying through scripture, praying on my knees, praying on my back, praying with my eyes open, and every other way you can imagine.

And for most of my life the results have been mixed.  Sure I have experienced answered prayers but they are sandwiched between unanswered prayers.  Honestly I can’t help but think that I must be doing it wrong.  Not saying the right words or not saying them the right way.

I think we have all had our doubts at some point.  Can God truly hear us?  Jesus answers that with an emphatic ‘YES!’  And he teaches us how to.

He  begins his lesson by introducing us to God.  He reveals the nature of God to us.  He reminds us who we are talking to because I think they struggle with the same issues I struggle with.  I tend to overlook God.

From the very beginning Jesus reminds us – Before you pray, I want to you pause.  I want you to slow down.  I want you to take a deep breath and think about who you are talking.  God is your Father.  Holy and different than all others.  None can compare.  Though He is unseen, he sees and knows all about you.  He knows all about your needs and he is your rewarder.

The essence of prayer is relationship which is why Jesus tells us to pause and think about who you are talking to.  Declare God’s greatness.

Which is what we are doing this week.  We are pausing.  We are taking this week to declare God’s greatness.  To make a list of who God is to you.  To contemplate.  To meditate.  To recognize the God of eternity who has invited us to refer to him as Father.

Don’t miss out next week as we dive into the rest of the prayer.  For those who missed, here is a link to last week’s message.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hUkswuF-KE&w=560&h=315]

Like what you hear, but want more?

You can check get more information by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

My Daughter's Father

I was reading the Quran yesterday in Sura 112, Sura al-Ihklas, it speaks of how

لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوا احد.

He does not have a child, nor is he begotten and there is not one equal to him

But in Hosea 1.10, it is written,

يقال لهم لستم شعبي عوضا عن ان يقال لهم ابناء الله الحي

Instead, those who are called 'not my people, they will be called children of the living God.

I haven't been able to shake that thought. How sad it is to not think of oneself as God's child. I always think of myself as one dearly loved by God. As a child should be. It is such a reminder that it is God's Spirit within me that calls out, “abba.” Now that I'm about to have a baby, I am so blessed to know that her spirit will call out to God's, prompted by a heavenly father to whom she will always belong.

I thank the Lord that my daughter can think of God as her good father. Before I ever met her, I knew that her spirit is calling out to God's. That she will always have a God who calls her daughter.

This blog reflection was taken from Pastor Ben's personal page. If you'd like to hear more about the work Ben and all of the pastors from Washington cathedral are doing, check out our website to hear about all of the different events and ministries we're doing.

From This Day Forward I will have Fun!

Pastors Tim & Linda continue into the third week of the sermon series "From This Day Forward." They looked at the importance of embracing life and the fun God gives us opportunities to enjoy even amongst the challenges.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrxbIqQp-lQ]

Like what you hear, but want more?

You can check get more information by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

From This Day Forward I will Fight Fair

Pastor Tim continues the series "From This Day Forward". He delved into Proverbs and challenged us to fight fair in all parts of our lives by avoiding the seven things that God hates.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1hB-0aljDA]

Like what you hear, but want more?

You can check get more information by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

From This Day Forward I will Seek God

Pastor Rey begins a new series "From This Day Forward". He took us into the life of King Solomon and the building of God's temple. God made a point that we must seek Him first in all that we do and he will hear us and fill us with his presence.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLJNPV6MP2k]

Like what you hear, but want more?

You can check get more information by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

The Time Machine

This week, Pastor Rey prepared us for the new year with the week long series- The Time Machine. He took us into Proverbs, challenging us to be wiser- to step into the Time Machine- as we begin 2014.

It’s never good to have favorites when it comes to kids.  While I was a teacher in Honduras, I would always say, “They are my second favorite.”  Everyone was my second favorite. But really I did have a favorite.  It’s a young man named Douglas.

I met Douglas a kid in 2004.  He worked in the garbage dump with his parents and older siblings.  I was at his sixth grade graduation.  And this December, I was at his High School graduation.  I invested more in him than in any of the others because I sensed something in his heart.  He is a bigger boy with the tough guy reputation but he has the most sensitive, generous, and pure hearts. I was so proud of him at his graduation.  You can probably tell by the picture.  Maoly, the girl pictured next to him, also graduated and is another one of my favorites.

Douglas and Maoly are witnesses of God’s wonderful grace.  Living martyrs. They are devoted followers of Jesus.  They have escaped the garbage dump.  They have escaped the many temptation of their communities.  They have fought, and with God's help, have overcome insurmountable odds.  Now they are both on their way to university.  They are already agents of transformation in their communities.

The cycle of poverty has been broken.  The power of sin has been broken.  It’s complete.  It’s done.  It’s finished.  This is the abundant life Jesus promised.

After graduation, I found pictures of that sixth grade graduation of the senior class.  Their class was three times as big- but only Antonio, Douglas and Maoly made it through High School.

One is a gang member, currently in jail.

Another works as basically an indentured servant.

Two are single parents raising their kids.

So although I rejoice with these two, part of me is broken for the ones who have fallen.  All of them had the same opportunities.  Some made wise choices.  Others made unwise choices.

I wondered, what if there had been a time machine back at their sixth grade graduation?  What if they could have gotten inside, gone forward, seen their High School graduation, college, future possibilities?  Then go back.  What choices would they have made? Anything different?  Of course.

You see, wisdom is a time machine.  Wisdom grants us access to God’s will.  Wisdom shows us which is the best path.  Wisdom leads to life.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6yXyJaLJug]

Wisdom is a time machine and the wise make decisions based on the end.

It’s easy to see where these children in the garbage dump went wrong.  It’s not so easy to see where we go wrong in our own lives.  Which is why we need wisdom.  All of us need wisdom.

I have challenged the church to get into the time machine by reading a proverb everyday during the month of January.  On January first, we are all going to read Proverbs 1.

Will you join us?  Will you get in the time machine with us?

Like what you hear, but want more? You can check get more information by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.